Sturgeon washes up on banks of Delaware River near Easton

What washed up over the weekend just north of Easton on the banks of the Delaware River wouldn't have been all that unusual more than 100 years ago and 100 miles to the south.

But the 19th century was a long time ago and Wilmington, Del., is a long way away for a fish, which is why the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission was surprised about the discovery a landowner made off Route 611 near Riverview Country Club in Forks Township.

A commission biologist confirmed Monday afternoon that the landowner found an Atlantic sturgeon, an endangered species that can grow up to 15 feet long and weigh more than 100 pounds. It's by far the largest fish navigating the Delaware River and perhaps the most elusive.

This particular sturgeon was a male measuring about 6 feet 3 inches, according to Forks Township resident Marty Crozier, who discovered the carcass while doing maintenance on his dock Saturday. Crozier said he called the commission and led a field biologist to it Monday.

“I've been on this river for 50 years and it's the first time I've ever seen something of that nature,” said the semi-retired Crozier, 60. “It was an experience. Let me put it that way.”

Greg Murphy, a fisheries biologist with the commission, said the commission should have more information on the sturgeon later this week. In addition to taking various measurements, the field biologist was expected to check to see if the fish was tagged as part of a research program aimed at tracking Atlantic sturgeon. If that's the case, a wealth of information could be gleaned, he said.

Murphy, based on photos of the fish, speculated it was either a juvenile or pre-adult.

The species can live to be more than 60 years old and males do not reach sexual maturity until 11 or 12, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's website.

“It's an interesting find, especially for that area,” Murphy said. “A lot of people don't even know that Atlantic sturgeon are in the river.”

Although still relatively uncommon, sturgeon carcasses occasionally wash up on the banks of the Delaware River in areas such as Wilmington, Murphy said. They die often from being struck by large ships, a threat that isn't a factor in the more narrow stretches of the Delaware River to the north, he said.

How the sturgeon found locally died remains unclear, but the photos given to the commission show no signs of the kind of blunt force trauma suffered from a ship strike, he said.

Crozier said the field biologist told him the fish might have been dead for a week, but the biologist didn't have a cause of death.

Like the better-known American shad, sturgeon are anadromous, meaning they live in saltwater but return to freshwater to spawn. Spawning grounds for Atlantic sturgeon are believed to be near Chester, Pa., south of Philadelphia, but Murphy said young males sometimes wander farther upstream.

Murphy said there are only a few hundred Atlantic sturgeon populating the river these days, but that wasn't always the case.

“Historically, the Delaware supported the largest population along the Atlantic coast,” he said.

Overfishing for sturgeon, prized for its eggs that are used to make caviar, depleted the population, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's website says. Water pollution also contributed to killing off the population, the website says. Dramatic reductions started being reported in the early 20th century.

The federal government designated the Atlantic sturgeon an endangered species in 2012.

Crozier said he had a hunch when he first spotted the carcass that it was a sturgeon. He said despite his knowledge of the species of fish, he was still shocked at first sight.

"We were surprised to see it there because it is sort of a prehistoric-looking fish,” Crozier said. “And it was huge.”

Crozier, who enjoys swimming in the river, said the discovery won't deter him from going back in for a dip when the weather warms up.

“I'd like to be able to grab on to one and let it take me for a ride,” he joked.